Indian Winter
CBC BOOKS: 2024 SPRING FICTION PREVIEW
A queer writer travelling through India can't escape the regrets of his past, nor the impending ruin of his present.
"I am leaving for the winter – I have to get away from this small town and all its dangers – to write, read, think, all the most important things in the world but which are thought the least important, the most expendable."
Thus begins the Indian winter of our narrator, a queer writer and translator much like the author, a winter that includes a meandering journey through India, trying to write about a long-ago lover whose death he has just learned of. While on this journey into memory, he flees his current faltering relationship in search of new friendships and intimacies. Inspired by Antonio Tabucchi's Indian Nocturne, and by the writings of Anaïs Nin, Rachel Cusk, and Carole Maso, among others, Indian Winter finds itself where the travel diary, the künstlerroman, poetry, and autofiction meet. But the heartbreak brought on by his unravelling relationship and his family's inability to accept his queerness cannot be outrun; as he traverses India, our narrator can't help but repeatedly encounter himself and the range of love and alienation he has within.
Reviews
"I have never read anything quite like Indian Winter. A hauntingly poetic and deeply reflective interior and exterior journey through the landscape of the soul--and in particular, the beautifully queer soul of the narrator--this novel proved compelling and compassionate. This is a rare jewel of a book. I was totally and willingly seduced by the language, and ultimately, by the wisdom simmering and shimmering to consciousness in these pages. Wow!" – James Davidson, Queen Anne Book Company
“A meandering literary travel narrative with shimmering poetic prose. While the narrator assembles a new manuscript, he reflects on the nature of the novel and the meaning of his past and current queer relationships. This was an enjoyable read!” – Matthew Carmichael, Titcomb’s Bookshop
“Indian Winter, by Kazim Ali… is an exploration of the writing process, the varieties of love, and the appreciation for a place rife with beauty and sensuality.” – Driftless Area Review